Overview
The URL Broken Backlinks block lists backlinks that point to a target page returning an error (such as a 404). Each result includes the source page, anchor text, the broken target URL, and its HTTP status. Use it to recover lost link value or find broken-link outreach opportunities.Configuration
Target Domain / URL (Required)
The domain or URL to analyze. Example:{{step_1.output}}
Mode
How Ahrefs interprets the target. Default: Subdomains Options:Aggregation
How broken backlinks are grouped in the results. Default: 1 per domain Options:Limit
Maximum number of results to return. Default: 10 Range: 1–1000 Example:50
Output Format
How the block returns data to the next step. Default: Text (Human Readable) Options:Error Handling
Define what happens if the block fails to retrieve data. Options:- Terminate workflow: Stop execution immediately.
- Continue execution: Proceed to the next step despite the error.
- Retry: Run the block again until it succeeds, up to the Number of retries you choose (1–5). If every retry fails, the workflow stops at this block.
Output Data
When Output Format isJSON (Raw), the block returns a list of broken backlinks. Each item includes:
url_from
The page that contains the broken link. Example:"https://blog.example.com/crm-roundup"
url_to
The broken target URL that the link points to. Example:"https://hubspot.com/old-page"
anchor
The clickable anchor text of the link. Example:"HubSpot pricing"
domain_rating_source
Ahrefs Domain Rating (0–100) of the linking domain. Example:68
traffic
Estimated monthly organic traffic of the source page. Example:2100
http_code_target
The HTTP status code returned by the broken target. Example:404
last_visited_target
When Ahrefs last crawled the broken target. Example:"2024-01-22T11:40:00Z"
When Output Format is Text, these same fields are returned as readable markdown instead of JSON.
Sample Output
Best Practices
- Fix or redirect broken target URLs to recover lost link value.
- Sort by
domain_rating_sourceto prioritize links from authoritative sources. - Use
http_code_targetto confirm the link is truly broken before acting. - Use
JSON (Raw)when saving results to Google Sheets or processing in code. - Run on a schedule to catch newly broken links early.
Common Use Cases
What’s Next
- See all links in URL Backlinks
- See referring sites in URL Referring Domains
- Check authority in Domain Rating
- Compare many targets with Batch Analysis
- Process multiple targets with the Loop Block
- Save data in Google Sheets